Birth records for Baptists from Hemel Hempstead

[alan.h]

I have located a burial record from 1807, at the Protestant Dissenters Burying Ground in Hemel Hempstead and I wonder if there are any available birth records?

The fact that this man was described as being 'of Moorgate' made it very likely that he was my 5x great-grandfather, and now that I have his will I can confirm this to be true. I had been looking in London, so finding that he was buried in Hemel Hempstead was unexpected. The record contains the word 'Baptist' and so, of course, there will be no christening record.

I have no idea how to work back further without an indication as to who his parents would have been. If his body was taken all the way from Moorgate in London to Hemel Hempstead, then that seems to strongly imply a family link to that place. His wife had been buried at Bunhill Fields, the large protestant burial ground almost literally a stone's throw from where they lived in Great Moorgate, in 1803. As he presumably chose to be buried, rather, in Hemel Hempstead there must have been a good reason for that. He was 38, so his year of birth would have been around 1769.

Any suggestions on where to go from here would be welcome.

Thanks, Alan

[CaroleW]

There were no birth certs or other records specific to only a birth - only baptismal entries in parish registers

[jbml]

Alan - it's something of a shot in the dark, I know - but it looks as though it was a family with means, so there are likely to be wills.

I think in your shoes, my next line of enquiry would be to go to the Hertfordshire Record Office and look for Hemel Hemstead wills with that family name. You may have to wade through a number; but if your theory is right, then you might start to turn up wills which mention him either as a brother or an executor or a guardian for children or trustee of a fund left for their benefit or, if you are very lucky, as a son.

[Redroger]

Here is your problem. There is no infant Baptism in the Baptist Church. Adult Baptism by total immersion is the rite followed. Historically this usually happens from around the age of 14, in the local river or in coastal churches the sea. There are records known as cradle rolls kept by some of the churches, but few to my knowledge have survived. It might be worthwhile doing a Google to see what records the Baptist church has preserved.

[alan.h]

Thanks very much for the suggestions. Alan

[smudwhisk]

If you want to check for any Hertfordshire Wills, you can do so on the Record Office's Hertfordshire Names Online site - https://www.hertsdirect.org/ufs/ufsmain?ebz=2_1421081453324&ebd=0. 

Select wills from the list on the right hand side.  You don't need to enter a full surname, you can enter the first part of the surname if there is a chance of variations.

[alan.h]

Thanks.
Alan